Winners of 2014 Christian Worldview Essay Contest

The First Prize of $3,000 plus 15 books are awarded to Ammi Burke of Castlebar, County Mayo, Ireland for her essay "Gordon H. Clark on the Christian Life".

There was no Second Prize awarded this year.

The Third Prize of $1,000 plus 5 books are awarded to Luke Cummings of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for his essay "What Is the Christian Life?".

Congratulations to our winners, and thanks to all those who entered the Contest. All entrants had to read
the book What Is the Christian Life? by Dr. Gordon H. Clark and write an essay about the book.

The First Prize winner is Ammi Burke.

Biography: Brought up in a Christian family, I became a Christian at a young age
and have a deep interest in the study of the Scripture. It was a wonderful experience to
participate in the Trinity Foundation Essay Contest. Studying the work of a theologian and
philosopher of the stature of Gordon H. Clark challenged me to a fresh examination of not
just the theoretical but also the practical ramifications of what it means to be a true
follower of Jesus Christ.

I am a law graduate (BA, LLB) from Castlebar in the west of Ireland. At present I am
completing my FE-1s (final examinations before becoming a Trainee Lawyer) and tutor
Company and Criminal Law to university students. In whatever spare time I have left,
I teach classical piano and violin and languages (Irish, French) at weekends to
primary and secondary level students. This summer I was privileged to spend two
months in the USA on a legal externship scholarship, working as a judicial intern
in the Massachusetts Appeals Court in Boston. This was a
once-in-a-lifetime-experience for me, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Writing this essay caused my faith to be strengthened and my appetite for further
intensive study of the key doctrines of Biblical Christianity to be greatly increased.
Entering this essay contest is challenging but incredibly faith-building for any young
person. I could not recommend the experience of entering the competition more highly!

The Third Prize winner is Luke Cummings.

Biography: I was born in Philadelphia and baptized into the Presbyterian Church
at an early age by the late James Montgomery Boice. My parents instilled in me both a love
for God's Word and a healthy curiosity about the origins of my faith. From the age of six
up until I turned fourteen, my faith was grown and tested as I lived overseas in a number
of places. I first moved abroad in 2003, when my family relocated from Baltimore, Maryland
to Ankara, Turkey. While my parents worked as medical volunteers, I attended Turkish
elementary school. From Turkey we moved to Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia, where I lived up
until the end of middle school. Living abroad and moving quite often, I was exposed to
many different religions and denominations of Christianity. This encouraged me to
constantly question and qualify my Christian beliefs, a practice that has been integral
to my spiritual health.

I returned to the US in 2010 to attend high school in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was there
that I was first exposed to a formal academic evaluation of my Christian faith in my
church's confirmation class. Through reading John Stott's Basic Christianity, I became
intrigued in intellectually evaluating Christianity, which is what sparked my interest
in this scholarship. What Is the Christian Life? was my first Gordon Clark book, and
I eagerly anticipate reading more of his works.

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